-The Indian Express   The street vending bill goes a long way in securing the livelihood of the urban poor. The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill, passed by Lok Sabha on September 6, 2013, is a landmark piece of legislation for the urban poor. It is the culmination of the efforts of organisations like the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) and the Self...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The goons and police can hang their heads in shame. Together, for once. The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha today with overwhelming support, with almost every speaker narrating how the police and criminals harass hawkers. The debate wove a tragic tale of exploitation and neglect of the poorest "entrepreneurs" of society while powerful support systems were available...

-Economic and Political Weekly The government has notified a Draft Land Reforms Policy which, on paper, has all the requisites of an earnest programme. Yet, the near total failure of earlier efforts at land reforms in India leave little room for hope that something substantial will at last be done to combat landlessness. Harsh Mander (manderharsh@gmail.com) is with the Centre for Equity Studies, New Delhi, and works with survivors of mass violence,...

-The Hindu BHATTIDHANA (M.P.): On July 28, a task force threw out around 70 Gond adivasis from a nursery of fruit trees in a reserve forest in Madhya Pradesh Gond adivasis wiped the wrinkled face of the late Bishan Dhurve with turmeric water, washing away the bits of coagulated blood on his forehead. The wound, his son Dikchand said, was inflicted by the Forest Department, which evicted around 70 tribal people who...

-PTI Survey said 27% of respondents had paid a bribe, the most direct experience of corruption for a person, with police the most often bribed institution One in four people paid a bribe in dealing with public services and institutions in the past year, according to a global corruption survey. In the world's largest assessment of public opinion on the subject, Transparency International found that political parties are considered the most corrupt institutions,...